Sports and Multicultural Communities | Bocce to Remember

Certain sports constitute important vectors of social integration for Quebec’s multicultural communities. The Press decided to present three of them to you. Today: bocce.

Adelmo Pedicelli is seated at a table with about ten other seniors at the Acadie Bocce Club. Some are watching the games from the sidelines. Others are watching CF Montréal on television. Only the sound of bocce balls resonates. It quickly becomes clear that these seniors don’t need to talk to understand each other.

The vast majority of them share the same background. They arrived in the wave of migration following the Second World War. Their family fled the political instability and economic depression that were shaking their country, Italy.

This is the case of Adelmo Pedicelli. His father died during the war. His mother, alone with three boys, took her courage in both hands. In 1953, she left everything behind. Embarking on a boat, with her sons, towards a cold country whose language she did not know.

The 10-day crossing nearly proved fatal for 10-year-old Adelmo. “On the high seas, I became so sick. The doctor told me that if I had to spend one more day on the boat, I would have died,” the eldest recalls.

After taking a train from Halifax, the family arrived in Montreal. Far from the waves, they continued to be shaken. “We were extremely poor. My mother worked like a horse to allow us to grow up healthy, she gave us everything,” Adelmo breathes, his voice broken by emotion.

“All the people you see here, they are here because their parents sacrificed everything for them,” another club member, Cecile Fazioli, explained to us a few moments later. “Our parents didn’t have much fun in life. They only worked to make sure we had a house, bread on the table.”

Like Adelmo Pedicelli, Cecile Fazioli arrived in Canada at the age of 10. “It was my father who taught me to play bocce. He loved it,” she says proudly. “It brings me a little closer to him, spending time here.”

Uncertain future

The elder points out a bulletin board. There is a variety of information on it, most of it in Italian. There are a few newspaper articles, but mostly several funeral bookmarks. Given the age of its members, the club has to deal with several deaths. Deaths that remind them of the fragility of life and, above all, the importance of remaining active.

“When we reach our golden years, taking care of our health is the most important thing. Our condition can deteriorate very quickly,” recalls the 77-year-old woman.

In this regard, playing bocce is a lifesaver. After two games, participants have taken an average of 10,000 steps.

The Club often repeats this argument before the borough. Its lease will expire in 2025, and there is uncertainty as to whether Ahuntsic-Cartierville will extend it.

“I don’t understand politicians,” laments Cecile Fazioli. “Here, we move, we discuss. It’s excellent for our mental and physical health. By getting people moving here, we free up hospitals.”

Members are subscribed to uncertainty, the club’s survival having been seriously threatened since the fall of 2022. The borough had then announced that its lease would not be renewed; the number of club members would have been too low to justify the cost of the rent. Including the Marcelin-Wilson Golden Age Club, which occupies the same premises, 450 people benefit from the premises.

The Italian community then rallied. With little means, they organized a press conference. Dozens of people braved the cold to demonstrate in front of Montreal City Hall.

Tears were common during these performances, which helped the club to prolong its survival.

“We had a very bad time during this period,” confided the club’s vice-president, Antonio Rocco. “When we come here, we keep fit, we have social contacts which are excellent for our mental health.”

“The club is a second home for most of its members,” insists the president of the Canadian Bocce Federation, Alberto Guerrera. “It’s as if the district is trying to steal their home, or worse, their second family.”

Preparing the next generation

To ensure its sustainability, the club seeks to recruit new members and, above all, to rejuvenate. To do this, it organizes day camps and integration activities.

Elsewhere in Montreal, activities are also organized for the youngest in the parks. It is not only the Club l’Acadie that is looking to inoculate itself with a youth cure, but also sport on an international scale.

In other countries, such as Switzerland or Italy, young people play bocce at school. “They move away from it during adolescence and early adulthood, but once they grow up, find jobs and settle down, they start playing again,” Guerrera notes.

“We don’t have that chance in Canada, because few young people discover our sport,” he laments.

In Quebec, there are still three bocce clubs, all in Montreal. Their disappearance would be synonymous with that of a part of the Italian community, fears Mr. Guerrera.

“We spoke Italian at home. My children no longer teach it to their children. Little by little, our culture is going to be lost. This is what we see in the United States: Italians are detaching themselves from their roots.

“Montreal is a multicultural city that allows people to integrate, while maintaining the ties they have with their community. Bocce clubs allow people to network, share, and keep their ties alive.

“We must not lose them.”

Bocce 101

Bocce is sort of the Italian cousin of pétanque. This sport can be played individually, in pairs or in teams. Each team has four balls. A draw determines who will shoot first. The winning team will throw the pallina (“little ball” in Italian), then its first ball. The objective is to throw the balls as close as possible to the pallina. One point is awarded for each ball closer to the pallina than the opponent’s best ball. The round ends when all the balls have been thrown. In competition, games end at 12 or 16 points. Unlike pétanque, bocce players take a few steps before throwing. The movement to propel the ball is reminiscent of bowling. The balls are larger in bocce than in pétanque and the courts are longer.

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